Part 19 (1/2)

”Wait. Not yet.” Maggie ran forward and took Kor's large, b.l.o.o.d.y hand. ”First I have to make sure he's all right.”

”I'm fine,” he growled, but he allowed her to examine him. Maggie felt her stomach roll as she saw the b.l.o.o.d.y slices marching up and down the inside of his forearm.

At least they're all clean cuts-not jagged or torn, she thought faintly. And hopefully the knife he'd used was clean too. Maggie took off the towel she'd been wearing since Kor had wrapped her in it and tried to blot the worst of his wounds very gently with the fluffy material.

”I wish you hadn't done this,” she whispered as the white towel turned slowly red. ”There had to be another way.”

”There was,” he said roughly. ”But it wasn't right-it would have made you hate yourself.”

Maggie gave a jagged, broken laugh and swiped away tears with her free hand. ”And you think this doesn't?”

He shrugged, his broad, bare shoulders rolling. ”Did the best I could. I'm sorry if I didn't meet your expectations...Mistress.”

”Oh, Kor...” She swallowed hard, choking back tears. ”If only...”

”Excuse me, Mistress, but if you want to make a call it has to be now,” the night porter said firmly, interrupting them. ”My supervisor will be here to check on me in a very short time. You and your slave must be finished and gone by then or we will all be in trouble.”

”Oh-of course.” Reluctantly, Maggie let her hands drop and stepped away from Kor. ”I'll just...I'll call right now.”

”You do that.” Kor looked at her directly, his eyes still blazing faintly red. ”Tell them to come get you right away, blondie. Before anyone gets hurt any more than they already are.”

Maggie turned away and ducked into the little Hobbit hole of an office but inside she was wondering if Kor was talking about her...or himself.

Chapter Eighteen.

”Well, this is it. The next s.h.i.+p that lands should be mine,” Maggie said.

”Should be.” Kor nodded, his pale blue eyes scanning the alien horizon.

They were standing to one side of the Grand Promenade, the long white carpet Kor had carried her down only the day before. It was where all s.h.i.+ps entering and leaving the spa had to land and Ferna and Ratner were supposed to be there very soon. Maybe too soon, Maggie couldn't help thinking.

”Good thing I still have the doc.u.ments I went to Yonnie Six for in the first place.” She tried to keep her voice light but she couldn't quite manage it.

”Mmm.” Kor simply nodded again in that maddeningly stoic way. He had already told her he wasn't coming with her-not that she'd expected him to after last night. But still, the idea of parting from him was dragging on her like a lead weight.

This is a good thing, she told herself, trying to cheer up. You need to get back to your job-your mission. Need to get to Gaia and start cataloguing and studying all those new alien plants and animals.

But try as she might, she couldn't find the excitement and curiosity she'd felt even a day before when she thought of her six month mission. All she felt was a dull ache in her heart when she thought of leaving Kor and never seeing him again.

She wondered if he felt the same way but it was impossible to tell. Since the savage cutting scene last night, he'd been almost completely silent. But the red splotched bandage that wrapped around his forearm spoke more eloquently than any words could have. Clearly he cared about her, at least a little or he never would have wounded himself for her sake-right?

I don't know. I just don't know...

”I wish you'd talk to me!” she burst out, unable to help herself.

”Talk to you?” He raised an eyebrow at her. ”What is there to talk about?”

”Your feelings for one thing.” Maggie couldn't keep the exasperation out of her voice. ”First you said you wanted to come with me to Gaia and then you changed your mind. Why?”

He shrugged. ”Decided it was better to put some s.p.a.ce between me and Yonnie Six and it sounds like Gaia isn't far enough.”

Maggie put a hand on her hip. ”That isn't the real reason you're not coming with me-admit it.”

Kor had been standing there beside her, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his eyes on the sky. Now he suddenly rounded on her.

”The real reason? You want to talk about the real reason?” he asked in a low, angry voice.

”Well...yes.” Maggie lifted her chin, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

”You know why, Maggie.” He looked at her so intensely it made her feel naked. ”I don't go where I'm not wanted.”

”But you are wanted,” Maggie protested.

”For what? To be your friend? Your bodyguard? That isn't enough for me and you d.a.m.n well know it. I want more-are you willing to give it to me?”

”I...” Maggie didn't know what to say. ”Kor, we barely know each other and I'm engaged. We can't just-”

”That's what I thought.” He turned away from her and went back to scanning the horizon. ”I see a s.h.i.+p coming down-it's time for me to go.”

”What? Just like that?” Maggie couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice. ”Aren't you going to wait and say goodbye to me when I leave?”

”Goodbyes are bad luck,” he said shortly. ”We never said goodbye on the Blood Circuit-it meant you'd never see the person you bid farewell to again.”

”Oh,” Maggie said softly. ”So you think we might...might meet again someday?”

He turned his head and gave her a cool, distant stare. ”The odds are about a trillion to one. The universe is a h.e.l.l of a big place and we're going in two different directions.”

Maggie bit her lip. ”I see. So what do you say instead of goodbye?”

”Good luck. And may the G.o.ds protect you.” Kor nodded at her briefly and turned away. Slowly, he paced down the white carpet, leaving her for good-walking out of her life forever.

”Kor!” Maggie couldn't help it-his name was torn from her lips.

He paused and for a split second she thought he might come back. But he simply lifted one hand and gave her a brief wave without even turning his head. The next second he had turned off the carpet and lost himself among the ornamental white trees on either side of it. A second after that, he was gone.

Maggie couldn't help herself-she burst into tears. To think that after all they had been through together he could leave her so easily! How could he be so cruel? So heartless?

And how could she stand to be without him?

She was still crying twenty minutes later when the s.p.a.cecraft, which had been making a very slow descent, finally landed at the end of the Grand Promenade.

Maggie wiped her streaming eyes on the velvety red sleeve of the outfit she was wearing. It was one of the more modest ones Lady Popenose had packed which meant it at least covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and crotch. Also, it was stretchy which was good considering the other woman had the anatomy of a toothpick.

She cleaned her gla.s.ses on the soft red material too, wis.h.i.+ng she had a spare pair. Between being dunked in the pool and all the crying she'd been doing lately, the lenses on her current pair seemed to be permanently smeared. When she put them back on and got a closer look at the s.h.i.+p, though, she frowned.